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Nursery and Toddler Room Safety Tips from Safety 1st

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There is nothing like watching your restful child sleeping.  They always look so peaceful, don’t they? I would love to lay next to my baby and keep an eye on him all night. Unfortunately that is not practical and we both sleep better when he is in his crib. Since he will spend a lot of time in his room alone at night and during naps, it is important to consider safety measures to keep him safe. This is just one of the many reasons I’ve partnered with Safety 1st as an ambassador.

Wesley Sleeping

Julie Vallese, a Safety 1st Consumer Safety Expert, offers these Nursery and Toddler Room Safety Tips to keep the area safer for both sleeping and playtime:

Cribs

  • Recommendations and regulations for cribs were updated in 2011 prohibiting the sale or resale of drop side cribs.  These new standards also require the crib’s mattress support, slats, and hardware to be more durable and manufacturers have to test to new more stringent requirements to prove compliance.  Cribs are an expensive baby purchase and are often handed down or borrowed.  It important to check with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure your crib meets these new standards.

  • To prevent suffocation and strangulation, be sure that the crib sheet stays tightly in place. Don’t keep pillows, extra toys, stuffed animals, or blankets in the crib. When your child is a newborn these items could pose a suffocation hazard. Later, an older child can use these items, as well as crib bumpers, as a “stepping stool” for getting out of the crib.

Monitors

  • Since 2004, there have been seven deaths associated with monitor cord strangulations as a result of baby monitors being placed in or near the crib.  Recently the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association issued a public service announcement on how to use a monitor safety.  Most important always keep the monitor at least six feet away from a crib or bassinet.  If kept closer to a crib, baby can reach out and become entangled in the cords causing injury or death.

Furniture Tip-Overs

  • As babies get older and transition to toddler beds all new safety hazards are introduced.  Toddlers will now have access to their room, and potentially the entire house, without adult supervision. Also keep in mind that furniture, even wide dressers, can be surprisingly tippable. Toddlers open drawers and use them as a ladder to reach items that are on top of a dresser. These open drawers, plus the weight of a toddler, can make even the sturdiest of dressers tip over. Secure furniture to the wall to prevent tipping.

Windows

  • Screens are meant to keep bugs out, not children in. Properly install window guards to prevent unintentional window falls. For windows above the first floor, include an emergency release device in case of fire. Install window stops so that windows open no more than four inches.

Watch for more tips related to nursery safety and an awesome giveaway later this month from Safety 1st!

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Disclosure: I have been compensated through the Safety 1st Ambassador Blogging Program which also included samples. Information shared has been provided by Safety 1st.  My thoughts are my own.

About Emilie

Emilie is a Minnesota mom of three boys ages 15, 14 and 10. She loves to share recipes and crafts along with stories about parenting and travel. Favorite activities include watching football, reading, cuddling with kids and spending time in the kitchen. Not a fan of laundry, nagging, or drama. Join her here and on her dessert blog, ohmysugarhigh.com where she shares her love of baking!

Comments

  2. Rebecca Parsons says

    I like all of the tips. I have to look into something to anchor the dressers to the wall. And I am getting a monitor that can be mounted on the wall and still be usable from a distance.

    Reply

  3. Julie Wood says

    Great to know about cribs and the dangers of using an older crib. Drop down cribs are dangerous and that is good that they stopped making them; It is so important to make sure that there is nothing around to suffocate baby when they are sleeping. Great tips to know.

    Reply

  4. Janet W. says

    These are all great safety tips. You can never be too safe! We love having a video monitor in my grandson’s room so we can keep an eye on him.

    Reply

  8. Natasha says

    These are really great tips! There are a lot of little things that you dont often think about when it comes to making the house safe.

    Reply

  11. Rebecca Parsons says

    Great tips I need to get straps for my furniture for when my granddaughter who lives with us will be crawling.

    Reply

  12. Heidi Daily says

    We have our monitor cords fastened to the wall with wire fasteners my husband got from Lowes, to keep the kids from playing with the wires. We also have the box outlet covers, and a cover for the power strip. Thankfully our windows open from the top, as well as the bottom, so with little ones around we only ever open them from the top which still allows us to get fresh and keeps the kids safe.

    Reply

  14. Tammy says

    I am always on the look out for great safety tips! I wish I had read more about this when my first one was a baby or even before birth!

    Reply

  17. Sarah says

    These are all great tips! I still don’t understand people who spend lots of money for crib sets that include bumpers and a blanket!

    Reply

  18. Rebecca Parsons says

    I didn’t know about the cribs made before 2011. Thanks for sharing this post. I will have to see if my daughter’s crib is this old or not.

    Reply

  19. Maria Iemma says

    I would love to win this not for a baby but so I can keep an eye on my elderly Mom – I am always afraid she is going to fall and her bedroom is downstairs and I am upstairs.

    Reply

  23. Blessie Nelson says

    I really found all the tips useful especially about the screen on windows! We have to invest on window guards!

    Reply

  25. Lisa Brown says

    Cribs and windows frighten me, always paranoid. Great tips to help someone like me feel more secure in their home with their lovely little ones.

    Reply

  26. Alexia says

    I think this is a great post. I know some people don’t think that baby items such as cribs and carseats “expire” but if they educated themselves better, they would realize that it’s really important that these items are used properly and within a certain time frame.

    Reply

  27. Danielle Stengel says

    i remember when i found out about the crib bumpers thing, my mom had JUST finished sewing some for my son’s crib but he was just too big and adventurous by then.

    Reply

  31. Julie Wood says

    These are great tips to know to keep baby safe. I think it is so sad when a baby dies because of faulty products. By letting everyone know about these safety issues really helps save lives.

    Reply

  35. shaunie says

    Thank you for the information about safety tips for children/babies… It is so, that the dressers are tippable… read a story about it and killed the child… again cant stress the info you have hear for every mother/father to read

    Reply

  40. Mayela says

    The Safety 1st Consumer Safety Expert, offers these Nursery and Toddler Room Safety Tips to keep the area safer for both sleeping and playtime:

    Reply

  43. Jean says

    I’m afraid I would get a bad grade if someone rated my babyproofing skills. We used a good monitor, use outlet covers and keep our medicines up and out of sight. But I skipped a lot of other stuff (window guards, cabinet locks, padding for table corners). Tip lists like this are great reminders and resources. If I had been more plugged in at the time, I probably would have done more babyproofing!

    Reply

  46. Amy Clark says

    These are great tips! We always anchor bookshelves and dressers to the wall, especially as our boys have become toddler and preschoolers who like to climb on everything!

    Reply

  49. Cynthia R says

    Great tips! I’m going to send this to my friend who is a new mommy. She has not yet toddler proofed her house.

    Reply

  51. Tiffany Schmidt says

    I am a big anchoring everything fan. You just never know what kids will try to climb. My 2 year olds new favorite game is scale everything he can!

    Reply

  54. amanda whitley says

    its scary to think of all the dangers their can be in a childs room. i have thoroughly gone through my kids rooms and still worry. i would love to own a video monitor!!

    Reply

  55. kathy pease says

    So mant great tips I never worried more than when my kids were little and making sure their environment was safe..Even though they are now 17 and up the worrying never goes away..lol

    Reply

  57. Michelle S says

    People definitely need to be mindful of the screens especially if their kids are playing upstairs during the spring/summer months, and the furniture one is a great tip, something that gets overlooked.

    Reply

  58. Susan Marina Brown Lane says

    I am sending the link to this to my niece. She has a 4 year old and a 1 year old. She is also quite young and probably isn’t aware of these dangers. I wasn’t, at first, when my children were small.

    Reply

  59. Sarah L says

    Didn’t know about keeping monitors away from the baby. I can see why it is dangerous. When mine were little (40 years ago) there were no such things.

    Reply

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